Harvey man pleads guilty to chase that destroys two houses

Just after a jury was selected for his trial Tuesday, a Harvey man pleaded guilty to charges he fled a deputy last year with his unrestrained 4-year-old niece on the front seat of his car and crashed into two houses, destroying them in a blaze.

Jonathan Manuel, 21, pleaded guilty as charged to being a convicted felon with a firearm, aggravated flight and cruelty to juveniles.

Judge John Molaison of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Manuel to 10 years in prison in the Jan. 9, 2009 incident that began on Alex Kornman Boulevard in Harvey.

A deputy was patrolling when he saw the unrestrained child standing on the front seat and Manuel toss a pistol out of the window before fleeing, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.

Manuel crashed into two houses on Eastview Drive, setting them on fire, before running away with the child, authorities said.

He was barred from possessing firearms because of a 2007 felony conviction for possession of cocaine, for which he was given a year of probation.

He appeared in court Tuesday morning for the trial, but less than two hours after his attorney Clarence Roby and prosecutors Clif Milner and Myles Rainer selected a jury, Manuel decided to plead guilty, records show.

Manuel already is serving a four-year sentence he received in December on federal charges of being armed during a rolling gun battle between occupants of two cars in Harvey in January 2008. Molaison ordered that Tuesday's sentence run concurrently or at the same time, with the federal time.

As a 17-year-old, Manuel was involved in a fatal car crash in 2006, in which he was a passenger in a car fleeing another man after a shooting in Harvey. The driver, Calvin Jackson, struck and killed a 32-year-old woman in the 2300 block of Broadway Avenue. The woman's nephew was shooting at Manuel and Jackson at the time, authorities said.

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Paul Purpura can be reached at ppurpura@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3791.